“Patrick needs a church home, and for his father to be a good leader.”
“I am a good leader and father, Roberta. You go too far.”
Roberta raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Fine. I’ve said my piece and you’ve said yours.” The look in her eyes told him that she regretted pushing him but she was still resolved. “Don’t cry when the bottom falls out of your business and there’s no one there to help you.”
Patrick’s laughter felt harsh in his chest. “I’ve done just fine since I went out on my own, sis. And if I lose any business because you choose to spread gossip, then so be it. I wouldn’t want that business anyway.”
“You say that now but you may change your tune. And me gossip? Are you kidding me? I don’t want for this to get out any more than you do!”
“You’re mistaken. I don’t care who knows.”
Roberta let out a hard breath through her nose and jangled her key ring in her hand. “Fine. I can see you’re proud of your perversion. Just…Damn it. This affects Patrick Junior, too. People can be so mean and kids can be downright cruel. His classmates…You don’t understand yet.”
Her principles and her opinions didn’t matter a hill of beans to him, but Patrick knew that his son was her main concern, although her own reputation was still very high on her priority list. “It’s my concern, Roberta. I’d appreciate it if you would just go.” She nodded and turned, her body language sagging a little. Reaching out to stop her for a second, he added, “And Roberta, you’ve really misjudged Beck. And Lucy. You don’t know them well enough to treat them the way you have this morning.” He knew he would be asking too much to expect her to apologize.
She shrugged and walked out the door.
Am I being selfish for wanting this? Is Lucy right and we don’t know what we’re doing?
He looked at Beck. The night before, and earlier that morning, he’d spent time with Beck naked and in an aroused state and it hadn’t bothered him.
Beck let out a sigh and put a heavy hand on Patrick’s shoulder. “I can guess what you’re thinking, man. I don’t judge either, but this is about Lucy being in the middle. I don’t care if Roberta ever believes there’s nothing between you and me. And it’s not a gang bang either. This is all…what does Ethan call it?”
Patrick thought back to a conversation they’d had with Ethan recently at the Dancing Pony. “Safe, sane, and consensual.”
Patrick smiled at Beck, appreciating the reminder. He knew who he and Beck needed to talk to.
Beck chuckled as he let out a full body shudder and whispered, “You never told me Roberta tried to get you and Tabitha Lester together.”
“Because I shut her down the first time she offered to set us up. Can you imagine me with that hateful woman? No way in hell. Not if she was the last woman on Earth.”
He didn’t want to think about that asinine suggestion anymore. It just went to show how little Roberta knew of him. For the moment, they walked down the hall and to the kitchen to see to Lucy and Patrick Junior.
Chapter Ten
“This is perfect,” Lucy said with a happy-sounding sigh as Beck helped Patrick carry in the last of the pieces of furniture she’d purchased for A Divine Retreat. A week had gone by since he’d witnessed the ugly confrontation with Patrick’s sister, Roberta, and the days that came after had been challenging.
Beck’s Internet orders had increased slightly, to his relief, but his local orders had dropped some, even though he was coming into his busy season. Lucy had a few clients cancel and never reschedule. The kicker had been finding out that Patrick had lost a job to design blueprints for an office complex in Divine. No one had specified a reason for the cancellations but Beck had a feeling that the Frozen Chosen of Divine were making their dissatisfaction known with their pocketbooks.
Seeing Lucy happy and all perky, the way she was right then, made the rest not matter as much. He just wished she’d decide once and for all where she wanted that damned buffet moved to. He didn’t see what difference a few inches one way or the other made.
“Put it right there,” she directed as they carried the antique buffet into the back room and placed it under the tall windows, which were shaded by huge oaks behind the old building.
He liked where she’d located her new business, safe in the heart of the downtown district of their little community. Out the front door was Main Street and on either side were numerous shops—including her brother’s tattoo studio, a couple of cafes and eateries, a bakery, and a print shop. Across Main was their little Central Park area, ringed with two-hundred-year-old oak trees, a fountain, and a small memorial to the settlers of the area. Out her back door, beyond the tidy alley and a few parking places, was the World War II Memorial Rose Garden which bloomed every spring, thanks to its diligent gardeners.